Tie chains

I have seen pictures showing a chain draping near the knot of a tie, worn instead of a collar bar. What are these, and can you wear them with a tie chain toward the middle of the tie simultaneously with the chain at the knot (in essence, you would have two chains on your tie, one high and one low)? If not, what can you wear in place of the lower tie chain while wearing the higher one?

I’m just not visualizing this item. I may lead something of a sheltered life. I have seen chains on the collars of Bavarian folk shirts, the kind of shirt one might wear with lederhosen while hoisting a stein of wheat beer, but I suspect this is not what you’re talking about. I’m imagining that this may be a Brit or Continental item of “high street“ fashion, worn by punters attempting to be dandies. Just what the haberdasher ordered for that six-button red-and-black frock-coat suit. The tie chain I am familiar with is the latter variety you mentioned, worn lower on the tie. This is a variation on the tie bar in which a chain loops around the front of the tie. It was popular among zoot-suiters in the late ’40s and ’50s, presumably being better at controlling one’s cravat during extreme jitterbug maneuvers. Were I inspired to frenzy by Terpsichore, the muse of dance, I might find some appeal in this item, but in my rather quiet life it has no place. I’m sure there are those who, when wearing a closed collar and tie, suffer from the invisibility of their gold chains, and for them these chains—one, two or more—may provide the flash they crave. But I would consider these accessories a part of theatrical costume rather than civil attire.

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